TaxCoach Briefs:    October 22, 2009

Volume 4, Number 44

• Client Alert: Lessons From Southwest Airlines
• Updated Content: Outlook Letter
• Member Resource: Member Call-In With Ed & Keith
• Did You Know: Shiny Things
• New Resource: Certified Tax Coach™ Toolkit

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CLIENT ALERT (EAL)
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LESSONS FROM SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

I'm writing these words onboard a Southwest Airlines flight to San Diego. I'm getting ready to help Dominique Molina teach the first Certifed Tax Coach™ class tomorrow through Sunday, so this week's Briefs will actually be Brief, as well as late. But flying Southwest made me think about the role that branding has played in building their business, and the role it can play in building ours.

I've never seen much difference between the so-called "legacy carriers" - Delta, United, American, etc. At home in Cincinnati, Delta controls 90 percent of the traffic. And for years, Cincinnati was the most expensive airport in America. But Delta seemed no different from any of the rest.

Southwest built their distinctive brand emphasizing by price. Fly one type of plane only so you don't have to stock parts for dozens. Fly into secondary airports like Columbus Ohio, or Oakland, where traffic slots are cheaper. Forget about in-flight meals. And Southwest succeeded in making money in one of the most brutally competitive industries imaginable.

(I can remember when flying was actually glamorous. But the whole experience has changed. This summer I saw my nephews Will and Charlie, ages 9 and 7, playing "Airplane." Will wanted to be the union rep instead of the bankruptcy trustee. And Charlie cried because he had to listen to an irate customer complain about luggage lost on a nonstop flight!)

Why does Southwest make money? Because they tell their passengers exactly what to expect - cheap flights with minimal service and cattle-car boarding - then they deliver it!

I would never choose to make "cheap" the centerpiece of my marketing. We've written several times before about how imitating WalMart is a recipe for disaster in our personal service business. (It's no surprise, to me at least, that even in today's lousy economy, that WalMart is moving upscale to attract more affluent customers to restore lost profits.)

But I do see value in establishing a brand and living up to it. Establishing a brand gives a business a quick and immediate credibility with the customer that helps ease fears of doing business with a new vendor and speeds up the sale cycle tremendously.

Having said that, I don't believe that we as tax and financial advisors have any business building "brands" like the corporate giants. True "brand building" and brand advertising with no direct-response component is a game for deep pockets. Most of us don't have money to waste "getting our name out there" so that prospective clients will "remember us" when they need our services. And if we do have that kind of money, we're better off saving it for direct response and referral-based marketing.

I would say that instead of building a "brand," we should focus on building a reputation. Here are four steps to building a marketable reputation and using it to build your business:

1. Pick some core benefit or benefits to offer your clients. We've built TaxCoach around proactive tax planning, of course. But you might also focus on giving your clients control over their numbers, understanding of what they mean, or forward-thinking business planning and consulting.

2. Make sure you communicate your core benefits to your clients. Branding doesn't work if nobody associates your brand with your benefits. So how can you expect your clients to see your focus on proactive tax planning if you don't show them how your practice benefits them in a way that your competitors don't?

3. Constantly emphasize the ROI your clients enjoy on the fees they invest in your service. We've said before that clients come to you for their numbers - so how else will they know what you're worth if you don't tell them? Your goal should be to convince them they save so much for every dollar they spend with you that they wish they could pay you more!

4. Once you've established your "brand" for your clients, put them to work as ambassadors of goodwill. Creating and managing systems to generate referrals will return far more than any cold marketing you can do, especially in today's skeptical economy. Your own clients' referrals play the same role in establishing credibility and speeding the sales cycle that brand reputations do for consumer products giants.

Dominique and I are excited to graduate the first class of Certified Tax Coach™ designees this weekend. We're confident that Certified Tax Coach™ will become the "brand" for proactive tax planners across the country. But Certified Tax Coach™ is just one way to take advantage of the power of reputation to build a tax business. Be sure you take advantage of all the 4 steps above to build yours!

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UPDATED TOOL (KAV)
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OUTLOOK LETTER

We've revised the Outlook Letter for year-end tax planning. The Outlook Letter is a great tool for keeping your name (and your value) in front of clients, as well as generating year-end planning engagements. The update is available now.

You'll find the updated letter on the Reports screen, once you've added or selected a client in the TaxCoach system. The Outlook Letter is the third orange button on the right. The contents of each letter depend on the module selections made for that particular client, just like with the Tax Plan Report and Plan Summary. This lets you highlight the proposals that affect your clients, without the "chaff" that doesn't.

The Outlook Letter is generated as a .DOC file, so you can either print it from TaxCoach or save it to your computer and edit it in your word processor. As it stands, though, it's ready to print directly on your letterhead and mail, giving your clients another key reminder of the proactive service they get from a trusted advisor like you.

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MEMBER RESOURCE (KAV)
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MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH

Just a reminder that Ed is travelling this week in San Diego, and next week we'll be in Tampa for the last 2009 Roundtable. So we won't be able to host another Wednesday Call-In until November 4, but we hope you'll join us then.

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DID YOU KNOW . . . (KAV)
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SHINY THINGS

. . . that TaxCoach has a number of links to external resources, as well as advanced programs for TaxCoach members? You'll find them in the Playbook, under the heading "Shiny Things." We call them "shiny" because they are so novel and interesting they may distract you from the core business at hand, which is proactive tax planning — just like Ed with the latest book on marketing!

But in reality, they're not distractions — they're resources which really can help you build your dream practice, like third-party administrators for advanced strategies (MERP, cost segregation, CHIC, etc.), business coaching, and done-for-you client referral and retention programs. We just like the phrase "shiny things" because it's a cool term for cool stuff.

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NEW RESOURCE (KAV)
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CERTIFIED TAX COACH™ TOOLKIT

With the first CTC™ Academy set to take place this week in San Diego, we've set up a link to CTC information in TaxCoach.

On the Home Page, once you sign in to TaxCoach, you'll see a new button on the left with the other "planner tools." If you've already enrolled in the CTC program, this button will now take you to the CTC Toolkit, which Dominique will review during the Academy. The Toolkit has all manner of practice aids, marketing tools, templates, analysis guides, and the fabled CTC "1040 Roadmap" that Dominique will discuss at length this weekend.

This will also be the gateway to the CTC mastermind message boards, as well as the on-line training once it's available (due in November). Updating of your profile for display in the CTC search results page is also done in TaxCoach, in the Planner Info screen.

If you're not enrolled in the program, the button takes you to the homepage of the American Institute of Certified Tax Coaches, www.certifiedtaxcoach.org, where you can learn more about the AICTC and the CTC™ designation.

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We're happy to answer your questions on TaxCoach content or features. (Save marketing and tax strategy questions for Member Call-Ins.) For best response, email support@taxcoachsoftware.com. If we think the answer will be useful to all of our members, we'll publish it (anonymously) here in the 'Member Q & A' section of TaxCoach Briefs.

Regards,

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